Schroyer brings cardiac, building experience

ANDERSON – Mike Schroyer knew he wanted to work in health care at a young age.

Due to some health problems as a child, he spent a lot of time around doctors when he was in grade school, not being afraid of doctors like some children.

“I saw that they helped others and how they helped me,” he said. “I started feeling this commitment to help others going forward.”

When he was 16, he worked at his hometown hospital as an orderly. He found his passions for cardiology and nursing while he did a little bit of everything there, he said.

Schroyer was recently announced as the president of St. Vincent Northeast Region, which includes St. Vincent Anderson Regional, St. Vincent Mercy in Elwood and St. Vincent Randolph in Winchester.

Schroyer served as interim president for about six months before receiving the official position.

“I’ve had the opportunity to work with Mike for the past six months and have found him to be a leader with integrity and vision,” Oz Morgan, chairman of St. Vincent Northeast Region Operating Board, said. “Mike is dedicated to our mission and a champion for quality and patient experience.”

Schroyer already has some initiatives in mind as he gets used to overseeing St. Vincent’s northeast region. He said big initiatives for smoking and obesity are coming, as well as a constant focus on access to care.

“We’re going to constantly look to see what we can improve with overall access to care and provide education and different resources to the community here to improve their overall health,” he said.

Schroyer’s last position was as the chief operating officer of the St. Vincent Heart Center in Indianapolis. Schroyer said his interest in specializing in the heart started when he was young also, watching extended family struggle with cardiac disease.

“Cardiology always seemed to stand out to me – the excitement, the different things we have been able to do over the years in regard to progression of care and treatment, the different things we can do now with heart transplants and ventricular heart devices,” he said.

Schroyer said he is impressed with how far health care has gone during his career.

“I never imagined when I first got started that we could do what we do now,” he said. “Even with cancer, we have made so many advances within cancer treatment, things when I first got into health care people really didn’t have any hope. We have a lot of hope now.”

Schroyer also has experience with building hospitals from the ground up and getting them running. Schroyer directed the start-up of eight hospitals and assisted in the designing and planning of seven other hospitals.

“A lot of people in the entire career have never had the chance to build and open a new hospital, and I’ve have been blessed to do several,” he said.

The regional president said his expertise with planning and building roots from his hobby of drawing and his love of working with his hands. Schroyer said he has built a few of his family’s homes.

He said, overall, the experience taught him how to make a hospital benefit not only the patients but the staff.

Schroyer also occupies his time by participating on boards, both locally and nationally.

Locally, Schroyer is a committee member of Madison Health Partners, United Way of Madison County and the Corporation for Economic Development. He said it is important to serve on local boards as a member of this community.

“We want to be active to ensure the overall success of the community, not only from a health standpoint but an economic standpoint,” he said. “That just benefits us all the way around.”

Schroyer has received a four-year federal appointment to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment. He said the experience has shown him health care providers do have a voice and can work nationally for issues at home.

“What happens on a national level greatly affects here locally,” he said. “Sometimes, locally, our hands will be tied, so you need to go to the national level.”